May Jesus Christ be
praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.
He was called for
glory, but the glory was not his own.
Among all of his brothers, David was called for glory, but the glory was
not his own. It was for the glory of God
that David was called to be king. It was
for the glory of God that the Spirit rushed upon David with the anointing by
the prophet Samuel. It was for the glory
of God that he was called.
It was for the glory of
God that the man born blind was healed.
He did not ask to be healed. He
did not cry out to the Lord Jesus. The
Lord Jesus looked upon him with the eyes of mercy. The Lord Jesus looked upon him with love. The Lord Jesus took clay into his hands, just
as the Lord God had taken clay to form Adam in the Garden of Eden. Rubbing the clay on the eyes of the man born
blind the Lord Jesus gave him sight.
This was not an act of restoration.
The Lord Jesus did not give sight back to the man. This was a new act of creation. It was a new act of creation for the glory of
God.
Saint Paul tells us
that we were once in darkness. We were
once separated from the light. But
Christ in his mercy came to us. Before
we could call out to him, before we could pronounce his name, Christ Jesus came
to us in his mercy. He came to us as the
Light of the World while we were still in darkness. The Lord Jesus invites us and Saint Paul
reminds us that we are called to live as children of the light. We are called to live in the light of glory,
but the glory is not our own. Like David
we have been anointed. Like David the
Spirit of God has rushed upon us. Like
David we have been called to glory, but the glory is not our own. We do not live for ourselves. We do not live for our own glory, but for the
glory of him who died and rose again for us.
It is for the glory of God that we have been called. It is for the glory of God that the dawn from
on high has broken upon us. It is for
the glory of God that we have been recreated in the waters of the baptismal
font.
The man born blind was
marked with clay by the hands of Christ and washed in the pool of Siloam. We were marked with the sign of the Cross by
apostolic hands and washed in the saving waters of the baptism. The Lord Jesus has looked upon us with
mercy. The Lord Jesus has looked upon us
with love. He has come to us. He has called us. And by his grace he has made us radiant
lights that shine to the glory of God. Amen.
Preached
at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC
